


Blossoming Deer

by AeternumMotus



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, No Immortality, No Timeskip, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:42:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27730216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeternumMotus/pseuds/AeternumMotus
Summary: [Rewriting this so that it looks better for both progression and for certain characters involved and to make things turn out differently and more interesting..]
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/My Unit | Byleth, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Quite the Rainy Day

****Chapter One: Quite the Rainy Day** **

Marianne slowly ran a brush through her long cerulean hair as she stared at herself in the mirror, her room was dimly lit by a lone candle since she had gotten dark curtains to help block out the sun, even though she had done her best keep her distance and not burden the others on their missions and class assignments and kept as quiet and cordial as she could around them despite almost never speaking more than a few words at a time she was dreading the idea of going to class today, not because she disliked it, but because she hated the very idea of leaving her room, of having to face the Professor.

She felt much more comfortable secluding herself in her quarters, she was used to being a sort of wallflower at this point, even though her adoptive father would’ve much preferred she had made some effort in befriending a few students, if not for the sake of her personal health then at least to try and forge ties between some of the other families ruling in the more vibrant parts of Leicester.

For the most part, the rest of the Golden Deer had all but gotten used to her obscure presence and meek demeanor, Claude himself had often invited her to study with him and Lysithea on swordplay, something she had sadly been lacking severely in ever since school started five months prior, although she genuinely did like the others she couldn’t stand the thought of possibly bringing ruin to them and just tried her best to keep them at arms length, especially the Professor himself.

She sighed as she laid her hairbrush down on her dresser, she needed to be versatile in more than just one skill in order to graduate with good marks and Lysithea who had been paired with her recently to manage and care for the books in the library reminded her that they needed to focus on swordsmanship soon, she knew eventually the Professor would rotate her to help Raphael or Claude in the reception hall sooner or later given the recent activity there as the winter season was around the corner.

She held her face in her hands as her hair flowed down her back, hiding the intricate designs of the back of her nightdress. She knew Lysithea would be up soon to remind her to get ready as they needed to get to class early before the others as the soothing sound the birds usually made outside her window slowly filled her ears.

She also knew the Professor would eventually have to take a more direct approach with her rather than asking Claude to help her..

* * *

Byleth slowly opened his eyes to the familiar sensation of Sothis staring at him whilst resting on his chest, her feet kicking back and forth in the air, the light blue tint of sunlight pooling over his bed told him it was almost time for him to rise and get ready for the day, but he knew the only reason Sothis was out and about this time around was to let him know that she wanted him to do something rather than being present to simply say good morning.

“Good morning sleepyhead, how was your dream?” Sothis’ rested her chin in her hands as she came face to face with her vessel, she had been more active in the recent weeks despite it being only five months into his tenure as teacher of the Golden Deer house.

“The same as always, you want me to approach Marianne, and I’ve already told you I simply cannot bring myself to do so, at least not in that manner.” He raised an eyebrow as soon as he felt Sothis float to sit atop his shoulders as he moved to get dressed, the last time he had spoken to Marianne was over her poor swordplay weeks ago which had required his quick action to save her from being cut down by three bandits at once, despite being patient and welcoming she had continued to keep her head down even in class and he eventually stopped calling on her to answer questions instead preferring to give her her space.

Byleth could’ve made a trench seven-feet deep considering how long he had been pacing about his room, as he nearly scrabbled pen to paper in his personal planner, for now he was more concerned with what mission that was given to his class to take out an apparent resistance movement in the southern territories of Leicester, how to arrange the battle formation, who to pair who with who, and most importantly how to minimize the mortality rate as much as possible given their last real mission had cost them quite a few soldiers.

“Oh, come on! You’re acting like this is worse than facing an entire legion of motley bandits you took out last week!” Sothis’ apparent annoyance rung in his ears even though her mere presence filled the room from his own perspective given her voice could not reach well beyond his own mind.

“Just get out there, and do this one thing for me, I’m sure you won’t regret this, when have I ever gotten you into trouble?” Sothis’ childlike demanding had gone on for nearly an hour now, he was almost ready to give in and walk out the door but he still held on by a thread to stay where he was as his heavy footsteps thundered about the floor, he was trying to focus on remembering the lesson plan and the plan for the encroaching battle in the coming weeks.

He merely shook his head in disapproval at her request, first it was a dream and now she was actively trying to get him in a rather precarious situation of being overly personal with a student, a risk he could not afford.. He knew Seteth would have his head either way if he didn’t leave the room eventually. “I have tried to approach her before.. and each time I was always turned away, I can’t encroach on her boundaries even though her disposition has been a concern for me since the first day of school.” He draped his cape over his shoulders as he reached for the doorknob, he could feel Sothis getting ready to incessantly nag him yet again.

“You know, you’re as curious as I am over her, right? I still say you should give it a shot and see why out of all your student she refuses to be close to you..” Sothis crossed her arms as she sat on his unmade bed, even though her memory was still a blur to her she had high hopes that Byleth himself could progress in different ways then he could ever know with this girl, her Crest had much potential despite the danger it posed, though, she would never tell Byleth that little detail.

“I admit, she has piqued my interest for a long time, but, I have to tread carefully and with the utmost caution.” He was already halfway down the hall by the time his door closed, he wasn’t trying to put distance between them since he was her vessel, her voice began to fill his head again as he made the long trek out the dormitory and to the dining hall.

“Hmph, maybe you need just a little bit of help then..” She would admit that although she didn’t have much power outside of Byleth she did however have at least a few tricks up her sleeve..

* * *

By the time he had gotten to the dining hall, small droplets of rain began to bear down on the heads of students running inside to get breakfast, although he hadn’t had quite the appetite he decided take a few oranges to eat for later.

Sothis had been bearing down on him again recently and he didn’t want to stand for too long before he would have to give lessons for today, the dining hall itself was fairly crowded, though he didn’t quite check to see if any of his students were present as he made his way to the classroom, whatever Sothis may have planned he could only hope her interference wouldn’t get him killed.

* * *

Marianne and Lysithea had parted ways just as they had walked to class since the latter had just remembered she had to drop off a few books for Hilda to at least attempt to study from for a project she and Leonie had been working on, as she was the only student in the classroom at the moment she was seated in her usual spot a few tables away as she stood a book up in front of her face, cowering behind it as a sort of defense mechanism, although she took the time to silently peer over and around it from time to time to study the Professor as he organized his materials, any sounds of shifting books, parchment and drawers were drowned out by the heavy rainstorm that battered the windows.

It was hard for her to really see the Professor as a teacher in her eyes, although he was welcoming, patient and the astute altruism he displayed was interesting to experience from him despite his rather young age and unusual background.

She couldn’t quite move past her own shyness and overall hesitation to get out of her comfort zone to try and get to know the Professor better, she still doubted he would see her any differently from those who already knew about her past..

And the last thing she wanted to do was to cause him or someone close to him to suffer because of her Beast Crest..

“Hey Teach, Marianne.” Claude’s abrupt but soft pat on her shoulder caused her to nearly jump out of her seat and knock the book off the table as she elicited a soft yelp as he strode past her with Ignatz and Leonie not too far behind him, he pulled out his chair to a table closer to the Professor as Ignatz took the seat adjacent to Marianne while Leonie sat by herself, awaiting Hilda’s arrival. “Gloomy weather today huh, wasn’t this bad a few days ago..”

“Indeed, all outdoor activities are to be canceled for today due to the weather conditions.” Byleth went about moving the chalkboard at an angle in front of his desk, the lesson was going to be rather short for today, since the rain had opened up a few more free periods for the students to spend relaxing, studying or just practicing.

Before long, with Lysithea’s arrival came the remaining students, and the lesson commenced, it was a short review on different battle formations due to different fields and terrain makeup. They finished up early thanks to the two being familiar with said terrain and where to be situated due to their hometowns being closely similar to many of what the questions had asked for such occasions.

Byleth called them to his desk to speak with them about their rotated assignments since he had to reassign them himself. “Lysithea, Marianne, Tomas has requested for you speak to him concerning your library duties, also Marianne, Professor Casagrandra would like to speak with you, she said it’s important.” As Marianne stood there she had the strangest feeling overtake her as if it was pulsating from her own Crest, she felt herself becoming panicked with her heart steadily racing in the process as she slightly moved from heel to heel as they waited for Byleth to sign the both of them a pass so he could dismiss them to go about their way.

“Hey, Teach, I’ve got a question about this one part.” Claude approached Byleth just as Marianne snatched the pass with a mumbled thanks and hurriedly brushed past him and out the classroom, completely forgetting her book on the floor in the process.

“Sheesh, what’s gotten into her all of a sudden?” Lysithea shrugged as Claude raised an eyebrow to the Professor at Marianne’s sudden change in demeanor, it wasn’t like her to run out like that, before she would always say thank you and say her goodbye’s to Lysithea and Claude first before leaving.

Byleth merely shook his head as he leaned back in his seat, thumping his fingers on the table slowly as he could hear Sothis giggling in his head for a few minutes now.

Half an hour elapsed before the class could be officially concluded, Byleth rose from his desk as he went about crossing off another day in his planner. “Alright, the rest of you, review pages one hundred and eighteen through one hundred and thirty, for your homework, class is dismissed.”

As Claude was the last to leave the room, Byleth went about pushing in Marianne’s chair, he noticed the lone book in front of the table before picking it up. He would have to return it to her the next time he saw her, since she might not be able to make it back in time to get to it since he would have to lock the doors to the classroom once he left.

And he knew Seteth was waiting for him to talk about the upcoming mission that would surely happen by the end of the month.

“I know it’s not easy for you but, you know you have to get close to that girl in order to protect her properly, she has quite the Crest and could really grow into a fine fighter under your tutelage.” Sothis’ casual tone nearly surprised him despite having spoken to her earlier in the day.

“That’s what you want to do on this next mission right? I’m kind of a mind reader..” Byleth merely shook his head at that instead of eliciting a response, he slipped the book into his cloak and went about locking the room in order to meet with Seteth as he had been requested to do so earlier in the week.

If he saw Marianne on the way he would return it to her, if not, it could stay on his person a little while longer.

* * *

“.. And that’s everything you need to know for this mission it’ll take place on the twenty-fourth of the Horsebow Moon.” Byleth merely nodded in response as he finished taking notes on what to remember, Seteth bid him a good evening as they parted in separate directions down the corridor, the mission would be twenty days away, against a very bothersome resistance movement that was gaining attraction in southern Leicester.

The mission itself seemed quite simple, however, it wasn’t easy being able to find and gather his class to inform them of the task at hand, by the time it was close to dinner time he could only manage to find Claude, Hilda and Lorenz in the dining hall, Claude and Lorenz seemed to be arguing about something Lorenz had said as soon as he approached. “Teach! Wanna join us?” Byleth sat across from the two as he spied Hilda talking to a few students across the room from the corner of his eye.

“Near the Airmid river huh? Oh, that’ll be interesting since it’ll likely be snowing this time around, but this so called resistance movement may or may not have to do with Count Lonato for all we know.” Claude tapped his spoon on the rim of his bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy as he eyed the ceiling.

“I’m not too sure about where Ignatz and Marianne are at the moment but, we’ll be sure to pass the message along, especially to Hilda, right Lorenz?” Lorenz merely sighed in response and continued to look downcast at his meal. “You know, you really shouldn’t get so down about this, it’s your fault for flirting with her, and ten other girls at the same time.” Eventually Raphael and Leonie came to join them but merely stared at Lorenz as he remained silent, they spent the rest of dinner talking about what they knew of the southern Leicester region, especially the river Airmid, how cold the easternmost areas of Leicester is compared to the more mild Airmid and the coming’s and going’s of commoners there and what they theorized would happen on the mission.

Once the dining hall closed however, they all made their way back to the dormitory, Byleth had tried to find Marianne only to find that she wasn't in her room so he instead walked back to his own room where he could be alone with his thoughts on the coming mission in order to go over his notes before retiring a bit earlier then usual, before he turned out the lights however he wished Sothis a good night and pulled the covers over his face.

* * *

Marianne had slipped away to the Cathedral to pray, she had almost run into Byleth a few times throughout the day but she managed to stay a step ahead of him and took her meal back to her room early, Miss Casagranda didn't help the situation at all when she saw the flustered look on her face after having been dismissed early, it was hard enough already to open up to others but, that intense feeling she had that made her feel almost like she had to be near the Professor.. It just wasn't something she had ever felt before, but she buried whatever she felt away in a heartbeat as she incessantly prayed at the Cathedral, and prayed and prayed..

It wasn't until another student had told her that it was almost time for the dining hall to open that she decided to get there first and slip away so no one would be able to find her, she needed to be alone, she wasn't any good at using a sword, and wouldn't fair any better with an axe or a lance, maybe not even a bow. Her heart just wasn't into it, even though she needed to be adept at it in order to pass the grade.

But here she was, hiding under her blankets, counting the beats of her heart, back when the Professor had saved her from being overwhelmed in their earlier mission, she felt both guilty and happy at him going so far to protect her. He had been helping Ignatz when the three bandits had cornered her because she had strayed a bit further from the rest of the group.

The Professor had tried many different approaches in order to get her to improve her skill in different combat areas, but she simply lacked the motivation to do it, especially ever since he had risked his own life to save her, she felt so embarrassed. Even today she had the faint hope of personally thanking him for his help and how happy she was that she could at least heal his injuries..

But she quickly lost courage and was overcome with that strange feeling of happiness that she had never known.. Deep down she knew all she wanted to do was at least hold his hand and say thank you for everything that he's done for her.. But, she just didn't have it in her.. and even though she was disheartened, she still wanted to try and say at least more than a few words to him, even if just for a single moment.


	2. Receding Storm

****Chapter Two: Receding Storm** **

****

Byleth incessantly drummed his fingers on his desk, studying the clock as he waited patiently for Marianne to enter so he could return her book, she usually was the first to arrive, oftentimes coming ten minutes early, this time however it was Hilda who managed to show up first. “Never thought I’d be the first one here, but.. I’ll give myself a pat on the back for this one!” Hilda beamed excitedly as she took her seat in the front of the class.

Leonie, Raphael and Ignatz soon arrived, taking to their usual seats though Leonie began a quiet back and forth with Hilda over their project that was due soon, Lorenz appeared to be in a slightly better mood than yesterday as he quietly took his seat next to Raphael.

Lysithea slowly walked in with Claude just a few steps behind her as she looked with bewilderment at Marianne’s empty seat and Byleth’s concerned expression.

Claude’s good mood shifted as soon as he saw their expressions, “Has anyone seen Marianne?” Byleth could already tell by their silence that they probably hadn’t seen much less spoken to her since yesterday morning, Lysithea stood by the doors to try and see if Marianne was coming down the hallway though the first bell rang shortly thereafter.

“Lysithea?” Byleth and Claude looked at each other in surprise as they had both said her name in unison. “I tried to find her in order to talk to her yesterday but I couldn’t find her, she went to the library before I could talk to Tomas with her and he told me she no longer had to help with managing the library books.” Lysithea’s expression gave away her confusion at the thought of Marianne skipping class, she was always punctual and had made more of an effort to talk to both her and Claude up until their latest mission when she seemed to go back to walling herself off all over again.

“She’s probably sleeping off a few too many winks before the start of the class.” Hilda offered her own excuse as she played with her pigtails, though it only served to get on Leonie’s nerves. “Sounds a lot like what you were doing when we worked on our project yesterday..” Leonie brushed Hilda’s arm with one of the books they had borrowed from Lysithea to study from before the latter pushed it away. “Come on, it was just a little nap and you had it all covered..”

It wasn’t until it was nearly ten minutes later when Byleth decided to mark her off as absent on his attendance sheet when he heard the creak of the door opening again, Marianne went pale at his gaze as she bowed her head in response. “.. I’m.. sorry.. for being late..” She murmured as she briskly approached Byleth though she still kept a considerable distance away as she kept her eyes downcast before him as he studied her for a moment, her braids looked messier than usual and he could see what appeared to be red welts forming on the nape of her neck.

“Marianne.. are you feeling alright?” She gave a small nod as she offered up a tardy slip from the nurses office, his fingers lightly brushed against hers as he took the note a strike of lightning erupted just as she pulled herself away from him and ran to the end of the room to sit next to Lysithea who she could only mumble hello to as she stared down at the wooden table.

He decided to let her be and took the time to hand out their work assignment alongside their graded homework in addition to her book as he placed it in front of her before returning to the chalkboard.

She propped the book up to hide her face again since they had to watch him get to work on creating illustrations for the lesson, though she felt herself getting nervous upon noticing him look at her out of the corner of his eye.

The Professor seemingly shadowing her every so often didn’t help her concentration as they worked on their class assignment and only made that feeling in her heart resonate stronger, it wasn’t as strong as before but she still wanted to go back to her room to hide away there.

Byleth continued to try and be patient with her despite the entire class becoming increasingly aware of the fact that she was acting more closed off than she normally would, the classroom held a very unusual atmosphere over the course of the next two weeks, everyone had a lingering eye on Marianne and he could tell that was making her feel even worse.

Unfortunately, every attempt he made at trying to talk to her over the next several days was quickly rebuffed over and over again, it was nigh impossible to find her on campus when he had the time, especially given the current weather conditions, and even in class she would always use the excuse that she couldn’t be late for Casagranda’s class or else she could face detention, he didn’t want to impact her grades anymore then he already had so her excuses only served to let her slip out of his sight.

Still, while he wasn’t very good at trying to navigate a person’s feelings given his own background, at this point the mission was only five days away so he decided he needed to speak to everyone he knew she had some level of interaction with to see what could be bothering her.

* * *

“Oh, you know she’s always so quiet that I never really tried to get into her personal space.” Raphael nodded in agreement with Leonie as the two went about tending to the greenhouse plants alongside Petra and Ingrid.

“I’m sorry Professor, but she never really spoke to me all that much aside from her helping me learn how to properly care for the horses in the stables.” Ignatz shrugged as he continued his complex chess game with Sylvain who merely counted off on his fingers about all the things that could possibly be wrong with Marianne. “She’s probably upset that she can’t feed the animals like she usually does at this time of day thanks to the weather.” It was true that she enjoyed spending time with the birds and horses but he really didn’t think that was the issue since the weather was beginning to clear up.

“You know if I had to guess, I would say she’s just upset about something rather than being mad.” Hilda placed a hand over Lorenz’ mouth before he could get a chance to speak. “I wouldn’t bother asking Lorenz after the flack I and a few others gave him over his cheap flirting routine from last week, you know.” She went about dragging a slightly protestant Lorenz down the hall of the corridor towards the reception hall where he informed them they were needed for cleaning. He stood there for awhile longer as students passed left and right through the hallway, although Claude had told him before that she had kept to herself it clearly dawned on him just how isolated she really was from the other students.

Rather than feeling pity he actually felt a pang of guilt over not trying hard enough to encourage her to make friends with her classmates, to try and get her to open up more and smile for once.

He only had Claude and Lysithea left to speak to, he knew she had taken the time to speak to them, even study with them a few times, he just hoped they would have something for him to go on as he waited a bit before moving across school grounds in the heavy rain again.

* * *

Claude leaned against the wall in front of Lysithea who kept swirling her raspberries, strawberries, banana’s and oats in her bowl as he juggled a few raspberries of his own in his hands in order to try and keep up his finger strength. “I’m starting to think that maybe this has _a lot_ to do with the Professor.” He almost laughed at her puzzled expression, as he moved to sit down in front of her, pawning a few more pieces of banana out of her bowl. “Hey, don’t forget the Professor saved her life over a month ago.” She slowly spooned her meal while watching him continue to juggle. “Yeah, and ever since she’s been acting like he’s a ghost or something, aren’t you worried about her?” He leaned forward after eating his raspberries, closing his eyes to keep his tears back from the zing of the sour fruit. “Of course I’m worried, do you think she’s afraid of the Professor?” She mashed up more of her food into a smoothie as she waited for him to collect himself.

“Well if I had to guess I’d say-” Claude stopped himself mid-sentence as he spotted the Professor’s sudden approach from the corner of his eye noticing he was slightly damp from the rain.

“Teach, we were just talking about you and well.. would you like to join us?” He declined taking a seat since he was already spread a little thin for time and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for eating at the moment. “If you wouldn’t mind, may I ask the two of you a few questions concerning Marianne?” He breathed a sigh of relief over their pleasant expressions, now he could finally stop running around and get to the bottom of this.

“Well.. I was just going to tell Lysithea here my own take on the situation..” They admitted that she had been turning down studying with them lately and spent most of her time alone praying in the Cathedral, it was the only other place they could think of besides the dormitory and stables.

“Teach, I know this is going to sound impossible but, uh, maybe Marianne just _really_ likes you and doesn’t know how to get the words out, I’ve seen the way she’s been looking at you here and there.” Claude couldn’t help but smile as he saw the shock on Lysithea and the Professor’s faces, Byleth stood agape at those words, though he wasn’t ready to dismiss it outright just yet, he had seen some of the students behave the same way towards each other a few times, especially when it came to Lorenz or Sylvain though he still felt it could be just a bit more than that.

Before he left for his room, Claude managed to persuade him to join them for dinner later that day, although it had been awhile since he had eaten outside of his room he needed to speak to one more person before he went about finding Marianne.

* * *

“Sothis, did you have something to do with this?” He groaned as he went about changing his clothes and drying his hair as he picked up his umbrella, her laughter filled his ears again. “I have, Crests are an interesting thing you know?” He should’ve known she would pull something like this, and he wasn’t sure what kind of phenomena this was supposed to be. “Her Crest was slowly resonating with your own even without my interference, I just gave it a slight boost is all to speed things along. Besides, your life would be almost entirely boring with this monotonous routine you have going.” Byleth felt a headache threatening to overtake him as he pinched the bridge of his nose, so there really was only one solution to this problem..

“Yes, it has been shown that bearers of the same Crest are known to form a connection, though this has often turned out to be quite rare since you usually don’t find bearers of the same Crest in a marriage.” He listened keenly to Hanneman prattle on about his finding’s and what was already known about Crests, he said this could be extended to family members having stronger relationships compared to those who didn’t have a Crest or who couldn’t form the connection. “Usually, regardless of whether it is a man who is a minor bearer with a woman who is a major bearer or the reverse, the bearer of the major crest has a more profound effect on the minor, given a few general side effects.” Byleth massaged his neck at this peculiar information, he never thought Crests could have such an effect, but given his isolation it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

“However, if they do not share the Crest then it would just be the uh, weaker link feeling the effects of the resonance so to speak, although it’s said that when a situation like this arises that their children have a much higher chance of inheriting the major Crest of the parents.” Hanneman looked up from his writings with a raised brow. “But it’s still a rare occurrence that needs more research so that’s all I can really share with you right now.” Hanneman turned around in his chair as soon as Byleth said his thanks and gave his goodbye’s before making his way out onto the campus grounds with his umbrella in hand, he paced back and forth in the corridor for a few minutes as he took all of this in, he didn’t know how he was going to solve this exactly but he knew that it was time to pay a visit to the Cathedral.

* * *

Marianne sat in the pews at the very back of the Cathedral as her hand traced over her embroidered book, hoping no one would notice her, even though she wasn’t there today to pray she didn’t like the idea of staying in her room all day for the entire week again and wanted to get out a bit since she couldn’t feed the animals due to the weather, even though the rain was bad it was still nice being able to hear the dull sound of the bellowing of the wind as the rainstorm continued.

Truth be told she was gravely upset at her own behavior towards the Professor, he didn’t do anything to warrant her treatment of him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to stay close to him for far too long, she was beginning to break out in hives over the amount of stress she was under thanks to these feelings she felt whenever she was so close to him. Just a brief amount of contact made her feel electric, it was such a strange yet warm sensation yet it was all too confusing for her, she had been in such a hurry last time to evade him that she forgot the book her mother had left behind, she had already read it several times, it was centered around romance, adventure and personal struggles.

It was apart of a collection, and one of the few things her parents had left for her since their deaths years before, even though it was a shock for her to find that she had forgotten it, it was an even bigger surprise that the Professor had handed it back to her so quickly instead of mistaking it for just another library book.

Even if she could barely contain herself in his presence she had to at least leave a note or something with her thanks on it, if not that she just had to do something, anything. She wound her arms tightly around the big gray book as she reflected on this, her small pink umbrella dangling off of her arm, thinking of the Professor and this book at a time like this was just so ironic to her.

She didn’t even thank him yet again for helping her in such a manner, it made her feel so selfish and ungrateful, she groaned as loud as she possibly could to herself over this, not caring who would hear or even take notice at this point as she rocked herself back and forth.

“I believe she’s in that corner..” The Counselor whispered to Byleth who slowly made his way in that direction, he knew she would pick up on his presence eventually, he just hoped that if he could get enough words out, even if she didn’t want to talk he could still at least offer her an explanation on what was happening to her, she deserved to know that at least.

He could see just the top of her head as he moved closer, she appeared to be lost in her own thoughts as she seemingly hugged herself though he knew that wouldn’t last for too long as he closed the distance between them.

“Augh..” Marianne nearly dropped her book as she curled in on herself, she could feel her heart pounding now with so much vigor, it was similar and yet still so different, the Professor was likely coming this way, if she just stayed hidden he wouldn’t notice her and be on his way.

She quickly laid down on the bench, clutching her heart with one hand while pressing her book to her belly with the other, it was only now that she could hear his distinctive yet heavy footsteps, all she could do was wait as she listened to each footfall.

And wait she did.. Until she noticed that they were coming to a slow halt just as the foreign sensation in her heart became worse, she could feel a few beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead and hands right about now.

She couldn’t just crawl away, if she just kept still she could maybe fool him into thinking she was asleep or.. something!

Byleth peered over her, if she was trying to fool him into thinking she was taking a nap, truth be told it was very unconvincing considering her posture. In fact the position she was in revealed the welts had encapsulated her throat, he had never seen anything like it and it only made him ache in guilt for her.

Unfortunately, it seemed his mood had an effect on her given their proximity as she began to squirm as soon as he considered the thought.

“Marianne..” He waited for her to respond for several minutes before placing a cold hand on the small of her back, eliciting a rather high-pitched yelp from her as she jumped up and dropped her book again in the process onto the bench, the Cathedral was mostly empty thankfully and the Counselor already knew what he was here for so few eyes were directed towards them.

Byleth lowered his voice to a whisper nonetheless, he wanted to keep this between them. “I know this isn’t the best time.. but, I really would like to have a moment with you to discuss this. I know what’s troubling you.” He placed his hands on her shoulders as soon as he noticed her trembling in place, her breathing becoming erratic, he also knew given the chance she would make a mad dash to get away from him and he didn’t want to risk her possibly hurting herself when they could easily come to a resolution about this as calmly and quietly as possible.

“We don’t have to talk about this now, here, if it makes you feel any better, but I truly wish to help.” She seemed to calm down just a tiny bit at his words but all she could do was elicit a whimper in response, unwilling to face him as she picked up her book, although it was slow going he eventually was able to coax her off the bench with mention of going to his office, she stayed closely behind him under the large black umbrella as soon as they left the Cathedral, the wind’s direction had changed to move against them but they managed to make it to his office after several minutes of navigating through the rain and mud.

* * *

Marianne placed the book in her lap as she took a seat in front of his desk, she was still nervous about being in his presence but she wasn't nearly as bothered as she was before as she listened to what he had learned, he leaned back in his chair a bit as he was dripping wet and wanted to keep his desk dry as he had some papers he needed to go over after this.

“.. And so because of this link that is formed between our Crests.. that is the reason you’ve been feeling these symptoms, correct?” She gave a small nod as she carefully contemplated the information. “I’ve never.. heard of a phenomena like that..” Her fingers slowly traced the embroidered fabric of her mother’s book, she couldn’t lean over it unless she wanted the water from the tips of her hair to get it wet and she was relieved that as she spent more time in a calm environment with the Professor, the feeling of that intense sensation had mostly subsided to a comfortable flicker of warmth.

Byleth was careful to leave out the last detail that Hanneman had shared with him on Crests, he wouldn’t know how to word such a statement and Claude could just as easily be mistaken for Marianne possibly having feelings for him, he too could hardly find his own answers on what he felt towards Marianne as a person, a young woman and his student.

It was times like this that really made him think about how complex his life could be, he had told Marianne the symptoms but she didn’t go into detail about what she was actually feeling and he didn’t want to pry too deeply.

“Professor, I wanted to apologize about all of my actions as of late..” This time she was looking at him, he could see her eyes flash something other than sadness as she went on. “And.. I wanted to thank you for saving me and my book.. Even though I’ve been such a bother..” He sighed at that and shook his head in disagreement.

“You’re no bother to me Marianne, I told you before didn’t I? I just want to help.” The corners of her mouth seemed to perk up into a near smile but she lowered her head a little in order to avoid letting him study her face.

“I know this is overwhelming for you, but I don’t wish to see your grades suffer any longer, if there’s anything I can do to help.. anything at all, please come to me immediately.” She nodded again, more affirmatively this time, even though they were still largely discussing the dilemma that tied them together she seemed much more open than before.

“I will Professor.. I’ll do my best, especially for our next mission.” They talked a little while longer about adjusting her free time to staying in for private lessons in order to help raise her marks, and possibly work her hand at swordsmanship. “I’ll see you tomorrow.. Professor.. Thank you for the talk..” Marianne slowly made her way out, just before the door could fully close though she managed to catch a glimpse of Byleth removing his shirt over his head revealing his toned muscles.

She stifled a giggle at the sight and as she walked back to her room, twirling her umbrella a little as she made her way down the stony steps and across campus to the comfort and warmth of her room.


	3. Step by Step

****Chapter Three: Step by Step** **

****

****

Byleth let out a huge sigh of relief as he joined some of the other students who began to file into the dining hall, the rain had died down quite a bit as the sun began its slow descent into the horizon, he had felt a headache coming on after he wrapped up the last of his paperwork and neglecting to have anything beyond water, he was careful not to tread mud into the dining hall as he moved to grab a plate of salad and find where Claude said he and Lysithea would be taking their meal.

“Hey! Teach.. wait what!? You’re having a salad at a time like this?” Claude felt like he was going to lose his mind as soon as Byleth had taken the seat opposite him and Lysithea, he wasn’t a picky eater in general but he also wasn’t willing to wait in line for too long for something to eat after all the running he had done today. “Maybe they just ran out of tomato soup Claude?” Lysithea couldn’t help but chuckle at his incredulous expression, it wasn’t everyday that she could see him lose his cool like this.

“No way, I can’t live this down for another second, especially after all this rain.” Claude slammed his hands on the table in protest before deftly jogging around Lysithea’s seat and away from the table, orphaning his roast beef and gravy in the process.

Byleth inquired to Lysithea about her day as they waited for him to come back, it wasn’t very eventful, they had been in the library for most of the day though Claude seemed to be getting a serious case of cabin fever from being restricted to indoor activities after he had done all of his homework in such a short span with her and even she agreed with him that reading all day was starting to grow stale on her, she was excited for their mission since it would be the only chance she could get some real leg exercise. Byleth had nothing to really share about his day since he had spent most of it running up, down and around campus.

He was about to take a bite of his lettuce when he saw Lysithea’s smile grow wider as soon as Claude slid behind Byleth and deftly moved his salad away.

“Alright Teach, this roasted chicken and quiche wasn’t the only thing I found back there.” He took his seat with glee, as he pointed his fork to the sliding chair opposite Lysithea. Marianne slid into the seat next to Byleth with her own quiche and sweet potatoes, she merely gave a small smile as she took a spoonful of her dish.

“Enjoy!” Lysithea and Claude sang in unison at the two, he actually managed to blush at what they were trying to do and from the corner of his eye he could actually see Marianne’s cheeks coloring as well, possibly thanks to the influence of his own Crest. They quietly enjoyed their meal as Claude mostly lead the conversation, they all took part in the topic about the weather and what they wanted to do when it cleared up, eventually the sky began to darken as they finished up with some dessert, Lysithea excused herself first saying she had to check in with Leonie to get her books back, with Claude moving in the opposing direction with their empty plates as he said his goodbye’s to them.

Being alone with Marianne like this made him feel sad at the thought of just leaving her, he didn’t want to go without saying more than just a simple goodbye to her, though he wasn’t sure about what he could possibly say, this was all still very new to him, so he simply waited to find the right words while watching her eat a rather large slice of cinnamon-apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

She was chewing at a rather delicate and steady pace, he could see she had quite a few crumbs on and around her mouth, in fact it almost looked like she was smiling as she spooned another piece, she looked quite innocent especially considering the dark spots under her eyes.

He could feel himself beginning to smile as he took in the adorable sight, a warm feeling began tugging at his heart as he slowly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket before contemplating it in his hands for a moment and suddenly he had an idea.

“Um, Professor?” She paused for a moment once she realized he had been watching her, especially considering his warm expression towards her, she wasn’t put off by being the center of his attention, though it made her feel a little embarrassed once she noticed she had a few crumbs on her lips.

Byleth smiled as he gently pressed his handkerchief against her mouth before she could try to wipe the crumbs off herself though. “I’m sorry for staring, I just think you look so cute like this.” He had to fight back an even wider smile as soon as he saw her cheeks color at his statement. “I.. uh..” She looked at her plate for a moment, since he hadn’t gotten any dessert for himself she pressed a spoon into his free hand and gestured for him to eat with her since he still had a hand to her mouth.

“Uh, are you sure? I wouldn’t want to take any away from you.” She nodded eagerly as she waited for him to take a spoonful into his mouth, the sweet flavor flowing over his tongue though he still continued the liberty of wiping off any crumbs he saw on her lips.

They laid their spoons down on the plate once they had finished the last of the pie, though Byleth insisted on putting the plate and tableware away himself, once they were outside however she swiftly placed a hand on his wrist and gently tugged him over to the tall hedges near the benches.

She smiled with a certain bravado as she presented him with a small box, tied with a blue ribbon. “I know it’s a little early but, I know that your birthday is soon, and.. I wasn’t sure about what to get you so I put this together for you.” She stared at her feet as he opened it, revealing a heavy silver pocket watch that filled the palm of his hand, on closer inspection he could see that it had black engraving with his initials, the numbers themselves appeared in Gothic style, and the chain itself had links that looked like hearts though the end of the chain was made to have other ornaments attached if he so desired.

“You.. made this for me?” He was in awe at the delicate handiwork, it looked impossible for it to not have taken years to fashion and refine.

“Here’s to an early ‘Happy Birthday’ Professor, I was working on it for months now, I never really needed to know the time since I’m usually early for my classes..” She brushed back some of her hair self-consciously as she spoke, she was a little embarrassed at his surprise with her doing something like this. “But, I noticed how you’re always so busy and studying the time so I thought maybe it could help, I already wounded it myself..”

This was his first real gift, he never expected he would get to receive anything from anyone, especially someone he’d known for such a short period of time. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he carefully slipped it into his pocket, he looked around carefully for a moment to make sure no one could see them before pulling her into a tight embrace, being so close to her like this allowed him to smell and appreciate the lavender scent of her soft hair.

He could feel her heart racing alongside his own and whispered a ‘thank you’ into her ear before he slowly pulled back for a moment, their cheeks colored as they both smiled at each other due to such intimate contact, she seemed to be thinking the same as him as they slowly leaned in for a kiss.

They spent a few minutes like that before she broke the kiss and turned around in his arms. “We can’t let anyone see us like this.” She whispered, he nodded in agreement as he pulled away from her so they could walk back to the dorms together, they stood close enough for him to hold her left hand in his right, keeping their interaction hidden with his cape though they chose to walk fast so they could walk slowly under the shadows cast from the buildings as they shared more kisses along the way.

He escorted her discreetly back to her quarters, this time he kissed her on the forehead as they whispered goodnight to one another before he made his way downstairs to his own room.

* * *

Sothis appeared before him again as he took out his pocket watch after removing his cape and boots before laying on the bed. “Well, that certainly went well now didn’t it?” Sothis hummed to herself as she watched him run his fingers over the hands of the watch. “It did, I guess there’s more to life then just taking a job.” He chuckled, as Sothis moved to inspect the watch herself. “She is quite talented, I wonder where she learned the craft from.” That was an interesting question he definitely needed to save for later, they could ask and share all the questions they wanted in due time.

He stayed up for awhile longer and circled the twenty-third of the Red Wolf Moon on his calendar, he would have to find a good present for Marianne before that time, for now though he was eager to begin spending more time with her hopefully along with the rest of the Golden Deer as well as getting to know one another better as he waited to fall asleep. “Have a goodnight sleep Byleth.” Sothis waved to him as she hovered above him, he slowly nodded in response as he closed his eyes, as soon as he fell asleep she disappeared into thin air once more.

* * *

Byleth drummed his fingers on his desk as he marked off who would be paired with whom for their activities next week, it wasn’t raining for the time being but weeding along with a slew of other outdoor activities simply wasn’t an option yet due to the mud. Seteth, Rhea and the other members of the faculty agreed that they couldn’t force the students to work in such miserable conditions.

Technically, the only work that could be assigned for now was working in the stables and cleaning the dining hall, he decided to have Hilda, Raphael and Lorenz help with cleanup while Ignatz and Leonie could work in the stables.

Which left Claude, Lysithea and Marianne with extra free time to do as they pleased, though he still needed to teach Marianne how to properly use a sword within the next seven days. He decided to leave his cape and gauntlets on his chair for today as he moved away from his desk and took out the pocket watch Marianne had gifted him to see that it was almost seven-forty in the morning as he stood in the center of the room waiting for his students to file in.

Marianne practically jogged into the room first with her bag in hand that held her homework and a few books, she immediately blushed under his soft gaze, she was filled with joy upon seeing him using the pocket watch already. “Marianne, you’ll have no group task for the rest of the next week, so use the time however it is that you like.” He smiled back at her as she squeezed his gloved hand for a moment, she didn’t want to risk someone walking in on them so it was the least she could do for now, he thought the same and merely rubbed her cheek with the same hand before pulling away. “Can we use the time to practice swordsmanship if you’re not too busy?” She asked as she moved to place her bag in the chair of one of the tables closest to his desk.

“Of course, I don’t have anything planned for the rest of the week so we should be able to get you used to it if we practice a couple of hours each day.” She could hardly contain herself at the thought of improving her marks in his class under his tutelage, she still had another class with Professor Casagranda but it was a short elective that she could drop at anytime and it could prove useful considering their upcoming mission.

Ignatz, Raphael and Claude arrived fifteen minutes later, each sat by themselves with Claude choosing his seat at the other table in front of his desk, he decided to catch up on some reading for another class as he waited for Lysithea.

Byleth moved back to his desk to mark off his student attendance sheet, he kept the watch in his hand as he locked eyes with Marianne while Ignatz and Claude continued to read and Raphael worked on a paper that he had due.

Lysithea and Lorenz arrived a few minutes before the bell and sat next to Claude and Ignatz respectively, the latter of which engaged him in a topic concerning lance mastery.

Hilda walked into the classroom as soon as the bell rang, with Jeralt’s heavy footsteps alerting the class to his presence before he could even step into the door frame, Byleth could tell from the stares and near giggles he was getting that his mouth was open as he went about rising from his desk. “Hey kid, I know this isn’t the best time but I need to talk to you for a sec, got a minute?” He nodded in affirmative, as they stepped into the hallway and away from the door in case his class tried to listen in, Jeralt lowered his voice as a precaution.

“Seteth wanted me to tell you that there’s been a change in plans, this is to be a bit of a covert operation of sorts.” He handed him a map of the area they would be covering before he continued. “Although it’s been a few weeks those dissidents have gained traction, reports say they’ve apparently moved their base further north, and are moving to harass a major trade hub in the region I’ve marked on your map.” Byleth held his chin as he absorbed this new information slowly, whatever these dissidents were planning they certainly wouldn’t be amateurs.

“Luckily, Alois and the knights will still scan and search the south to see if they’re just using this as a smokescreen to throw off suspicion, the hub itself is just a days ride from some little village so you should be fine.” Byleth nodded as Jeralt tapped him on the shoulder before waving him off, he knew where to find him if he needed anything and he also knew that he would be able to come up with a good plan to put down this small uprising no matter how complicated it may be.

He was met with stares as soon as he stepped back into the room, he appreciated their concerns especially Marianne’s, however he didn’t want to trouble them with this new information. It was his worry for now until the day for them to set out came, the last thing he wanted was to put more stress on his students given how unpredictable and bloody battle truly was.

“Alright, everyone, today we’ll be doing a short exercise before moving to the knight’s hall. Outdoor activities are still canceled for the time being. Marianne, Claude and Lysithea, you’ll have no group task to participate in for the next week.”

“Ignatz and Leonie, you’ll help out in the stables, the rest of you are tasked with cleanup in the dining hall.” He knew Hilda would likely try to get out of it which was why Lorenz was needed to keep her in line, the first half of the class period was spent with a bustling of questions from all the students, and just as there were many questions to be asked he called on the students one at a time to show what they know and this time around he was able to call on Marianne for some of the harder ones.

Once the first half of class had elapsed they filed out into the hallway to begin the long trek towards the knight’s hall, while Byleth readjusted his gauntlets over his forearms as they made their way there.

Byleth decided to practice with Marianne himself while Lysithea, Leonie and Hilda practiced amongst each other, leaving Claude and Lorenz cycling between facing Raphael and Ignatz before they would swap sparring partners.

“Remember, focus more on holding the sword with the intent to use it, it’s supposed to be an extension of your arm.” He adjusted her fingers to handle the hilt for two-handed combat training, even though it was a short-sword he wanted her to get used to how to swing it before moving her onto one of regular length. “Relax your stance a bit, you don’t want to put too much strain on your diaphragm.” He was using a short-sword himself to give her an even footing as well as to help her learn what angles she could swing at, once he had moved several feet away from her he motioned for her to come at him as he slowly turned to face her.

Marianne, knew she had no room to show hesitation so she charged ahead at once, bringing her sword up from the ground from her left side, steel clashed with steel as he brought his sword up to halt her advance in a way that shielded his abdomen, she couldn’t press forward since it would be impossible for her to move him considering his weight so she jumped back a few steps, she tried a few more heavyset swings but Byleth merely held the palm of his hand against the near tip of his sword thanks to his gauntlets, each time she moved back further and further until she inched closer to the corner of the room.

She tried bringing down a slashing motion but Byleth simply parried her attack again, whether she swiped from the sides or a certain angle he still deflected her attack and even tried to disarm her a few times when he pursued her, as the minutes dragged on he began to wear her down with his quick movements and tricky reflexes, eventually he disarmed her in a fast motion when she tried to lunge her sword at him in a feigned attack by sidestepping and seizing her right wrist, she didn’t have the strength to pull away so she just shook her head as she leaned up against him for a few minutes to catch her breath, he relaxed his grip on her wrist as he gave her a nod of approval at her performance.

“Not bad, especially with a short-sword, I think with a few hours of practice each day you should be ready in time for the mission.” He let go of her wrist as he spoke but took the sword out of her hands for now and gestured for her to grab a seat as he walked over to see how the others were faring.

The rest of the second half of the class period Byleth took on the other students while each of the girls faced Marianne, though it was tedious she actually managed to disarm Hilda at least once thanks in part to the latters laziness, despite it being the first day she was actually starting to get it though she felt she needed more than just a break as soon as Byleth disarmed her again towards the end of the period.

With the sound of the bell they put away their swords and made the return back to the classroom to gather their things. Marianne and Byleth took their time walking to the dining hall while the others practically raced down the hall and across campus, they spent the entire walk asking each other questions and decided they could practice swordsmanship after lunch for the following days leading up to the mission.

* * *

They established that they are in fact in a relationship though for all intents and purposes they had to appear as teacher and student in front of others at least until she graduated. “And you’re certain your father won’t be able to marry you off to just anyone?” This was a difficult question that needed to be asked, even though her family owned a small section of land in comparison to the other reigning families of the Alliance, they were still responsible for managing trade and while that may not seem like much on the outside it could make a world of difference if they were able to increase their wealth ten-fold with the right negotiations. “I will admit that it’s a touchy subject between us but.. I.. did tell him.. for quite some time now that I do like someone..” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she continued, already feeling embarrassed at revealing the contents of her letters, something she’d never thought would be done before.

“But it’s not like he would ever inquire further about it, it’s ultimately up to the heir on when and whom they’ll marry, and even then he’s not the most excited at the thought of marrying me off. Because in the end anything could happen in an arranged marriage..” That was indeed an unfortunate case across all of Fódlan when it came to Crests, there was much debate over marriages outright failing due to the nature of Crests and producing such children that could bear them, all it took was one word and the wife could be pushed into the corner once her purpose was fulfilled, he himself had never really entertained the idea of settling down with a wife and children especially given his commoner status and up until now dangerous lifestyle.

They continued bouncing off more questions until they finally made it to the dining hall, this time they decided to eat together at an empty table having some orange juice with cooked salmon, they sat adjacent to each other so that they could hold hands.

“Hello Professor!” Flayn tapped Byleth on the shoulder as he slowly sipped his orange juice. “Good afternoon, Flayn.” She waved at Marianne who greeted her the same in turn before placing a long rectangular package on the table in front of them.

“My brother said this got lost in the mail somehow, so he asked me to deliver it to you or well, the recipient!” She beamed excitedly as she looked between the two before excusing herself into the ever growing crowd. Marianne flipped the package over to see who it was for just to double check, upon inspecting the parchment tied to it she immediately recognized the handwriting as belonging to her adoptive father. “By the way Marianne, I was wondering, where did you learn that craft from?”

“Oh.. my father had clock making as a hobby and I was curious about it, it wasn’t all that difficult for me to learn.. I even took parts from some of his broken watches to put yours together.” He felt her hands shake slightly as she recounted the memories further, all the while Byleth patiently listened to every word and asked a few questions here and there about her father and the time they spent together. Once they were finished with their meal Marianne insisted on taking the package with her to the knight’s hall instead of simply going back to leave it in her room.

She left it in one of the chairs before taking a short-sword Byleth had offered her. “Remember, the ideal stance?” She nodded before taking in a few breaths, assumed battle stance and waited for Byleth to give the word. Once again he walked several feet away from her and assumed his usual stance, giving a slight nod they both rushed towards each other to start the lesson.

* * *

“Claude, I have to know, what made you suspect Marianne had feelings for the Professor?” Lysithea questioned him as they traveled together in the marketplace looking for certain wares that could come in handy during the mission. “Well, to be honest with you, she left some papers near the libraries trash and I..” Claude held his hands up in an act of surrender as soon as he saw her charge at him with an angry glare.

“Whoa wait! Will you relax? I just wanted to see what was bothering her, and she looked like she had been crying when she ran past me.” She relaxed a bit as she crossed her arms defiantly but he still kept a few feet away as a precaution, the last thing he wanted was to show off a fine shiner for the next three days.

“I tried for four whole months since then to talk to her about it but she kept avoiding me whenever I asked if something was bothering her and I wasn’t really sure how to bring it up to the Professor, you know?” He creased his brow as they continued to check out the latest deals in archery and tomes. She let out a heavy sigh as she leaned in and lightly punched him in the arm. “Well.. aside from the breach in privacy, I’m more upset at the fact that you didn’t bother to share any of this with me Claude.” He laughed at her gesture, he wasn’t really good at asking women for advice on things like this and he figured she would’ve dismissed the notion outright as insane, inappropriate and maybe even saying he looked at things in a horrible angle. “I wanted too, but, I also thought that you would think it was silly for them to have that kind of a relationship.. kind of like how you nearly shot me down about us.”

“Oh, Claude, I was only teasing, truthfully.. even though we’re not that close to her, I did want to try and do something to make her smile for once.” She handed him a few coins so he could pay the merchant for arrows as he loaded up his quiver. “Yeah, it’s no fun when there’s only one person in the room who genuinely doesn’t smile, we can’t let that be the case once the Garreg Mach Ball comes up.” He didn’t want to imagine the sight of those two avoiding the dance floor and each other.

“True, but, I’m a little worried about how the others will react if they were to find out about their relationship.” Lysithea’s eyebrows knitted in concern, they all liked the Professor very much and while she was certain Leonie wouldn’t be bothered there was no telling how the rest of them would react to well _this_.

“Let me worry about that, I’m the house leader and we have to be prepared for every kind of scenario!” He lightly pushed her forward as they made their way throughout the market, he already had a few ideas but for now he just wanted to focus on finishing their shopping trip. 

* * *

Byleth contemplated the calendar in his room, running his palm over Marianne’s gift, today was the twentieth of the Horsebow Moon, while it was a Saturday which was always a free day, so he could spend today and tomorrow working on a gift for Marianne.. Except he wasn’t really sure about what to get her, flowers seemed more like a rather lame courtship gesture and he didn’t want to ask Sothis for her advice on the matter and he certainly didn’t want to bother Lysithea about it either, he wanted to give her something that showed as much care and thoughtfulness as possible.

For the past five days they had kept up a rigorous routine of practicing for two hours each day, Marianne had made remarkable progress in such a short time that they decided she could just practice different moves he felt she could handle, after that Marianne did her best to try and accompany him when he went about helping students and faculty alike with favors on campus.

Though he was a little worried that with her following him around everywhere that Seteth of all people would discover the deeper nature of their closeness and really tear him to pieces, he hadn’t known him for long but Seteth wasn’t exactly the kind person who could or would turn a blind eye to something like this, all they could do for now was be more discreet and hope for the best..

The sound of footsteps brought him back to reality as he hid away the watch in his pocket. Claude knocked on the archway even though the doors were fixed open, he peered at the calendar himself before focusing his gaze on Byleth. “Hey Teach, I’ve got something for you, think of it as a present from all the Golden Deer.” Claude handed him a small box with a golden ribbon tied around it. “Thank you very much, Claude, I appreciate it.”

“Hey, no problem, and Happy Birthday!” Claude waved him off as he disappeared down the hallways, he took the time to open the box to find it contained an elegant bracelet, it had been wrapped inside a piece of parchment that was signed by everyone in the class giving him well wishes for today.

He wasn’t familiar with jewelry but holding the bracelet in his hands like this gave him an idea on what to get Marianne, as he placed the bracelet and card back into the box and left it on his bedside table, he would have to visit the marketplace and forge for this idea, he had plenty of his own money and more than enough time to get this done.

* * *

“Someone special huh? I’ll see what I can do with this for you, come back in about two weeks.” The blacksmith didn’t have much work to be done at the moment and the material he’d given her was something she had wanted to work on for a long time now, he could only hope that she knew how to make it look not only professional but not overly extravagant as he marched up the steps.

“There there Dorte, I came back like I said I would didn’t I?” She went about gently brushing down his mane with her fingers, he hadn’t gotten much exercise thanks to the weather and her own activities, but she was ready to help him stretch his legs a bit and feel the cool breeze as she got up on his saddle taking the reigns in her hands.

She gave him a small thigh squeeze to get him moving, she didn’t want to go anywhere in particular as she told him all about her experiences leading up to now, and all about the Professor and how long she’s loved him, even though she knew it was silly to be talking to animals like this, still she felt the need to talk to someone about how happy she’s been lately. She felt so lively and really needed a ride to get it out of her system, she was sleeping a lot more and her complexion was much brighter compared to how it was before she came here, the bags under her eyes had subsided quite a bit and she actually spent more time around her classmates even going so far as to help other students around campus with Byleth.

She rode circles back and forth near the stables, there was more than enough room and no one was really around to begin with so she took the time to have him leap here and there, letting him gallop at his own pace as she felt the wind brush against her face, she kept up the ride for a few hours when Dorte began to slow his gallop, and started to strut towards the stables. He always was able to let her know exactly what he wanted so she dismounted, removed his saddle and reigns before enclosing him in the pen again. Once he was inside she started to brush at his mane again, once she finished up she gave him an apple she had gotten from the dining hall before patting the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see you tomorrow Dorte, be good while I’m away, alright?”

* * *

Marianne decided to spend some time at the dining hall and see if she couldn’t find some cinnamon cookies to eat, even though it was a few hours past breakfast she knew they often served sweets and other specials as she made exchanges with the kitchen staff. “Thank you very much.” She took a seat at a nearby table with a tall glass of milk and a large bowl of cookies, and began leisurely dunking a cookie in from time to time. It wasn’t everyday that she did this but the warm feeling in her heart reminded her that her life could indeed change for the better, she could only hope that in the future she could be a permanent part of Byleth’s life.

Flayn came into her sight as she walked up to the counters, as if she was led by her nose she bee-lined it for Marianne at once she looked at her with wonder as she inched closer to the bowl of cookies. “Flayn, would you like to join me?” She giggled at her childlike excitement. “Oh yes! Thank you!” She took a moment to grab her own glass of milk before taking a seat across from her.

“Hey Marianne, I know we haven’t spoken much, especially after your house went through the trouble of saving me, but I noticed you’re in better spirits and more social too.” Flayn broke a cookie in two as she hummed to herself through each bite.

“Yes.. I’ve found it’s gotten much easier to open up to the others despite my flaws.” She held her hands together against her chest as she shook her head again, she still lacked a bit in self-confidence and she knew Byleth would be none too pleased if he could see her acting like this yet again.

“Flaws? But you’re such a nice person! I see you talking to all the animals and feeding them your leftover breakfast and I certainly wouldn’t call that a flaw!” Flayn looked at her in absolute horror at her self-depreciating attitude, like she thought of herself as a pariah or something.

“That’s very sweet of you to say but I think you deserve the compliment more than me.” She waved her hands a little as she reached for another cookie, she wasn’t used to hearing compliments from anyone though she had as little contact with people as possible before she even came to the academy.

“No way, you’re a really sweet person and you know what, there’s something I really wanna know!” Flayn got on her knees as she leaned over the table with her milk, her emerald eyes sparkling with courage. “Um, okay, w-what would you like to know?”

She closed an eye as she cocked a smile, slowly letting the words hop off her tongue as she lowered her voice. “Are you.. and the Professor an item!?” She nearly choked on her milk as soon as she heard the words. “I knew it! I knew you were kissing him near the bushes!” Flayn continued to beam her expression as she ran around to pinch the corners of Marianne’s mouth to get her to smile again. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the others won’t mind, especially my brother and nothing gets past him! He used to be quite the romantic you know!” She laughed as she danced in place behind her picking up another cookie in the process as she sashayed back to her seat.

She tried to compose herself but she felt like she could die of embarrassment at the how their early relationship was already known in the eyes of another.

“Trust me, I’m sure my brother is waiting for Miss Casagranda to find a date with Alois or someone so that she’ll stop complaining about her love life to him and Hanneman!” Flayn’s good temperament and kindness eventually helped her calm down a bit as she laughed with her, they shared the last of the cookies and helped with the cleanup, she couldn’t find it in her to say no when Flayn asked her to accompany her back to the Cathedral.

“Thank you!” She waved her off as soon as they parted ways at the drawbridge, she decided that now was the perfect time to head back to her room for awhile before lunch time came around, there were a few things she wanted to do first before she saw her lover today she only hoped that he would be quite pleased with her surprise.


	4. Eternal Bonds

****Chapter Four: Eternal Bonds** **

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****

“I still can’t understand why the Professor would put us up to something like this, I mean what’s wrong with the staff cleaning the mess hall themselves?” Hilda clamored on as she hoisted herself onto the soft cushions the library sofa had to offer. “Will you calm down? You’ll get us kicked out in no time if you don’t bring your volume down to a minimum, besides we didn’t even have to clean today, it is a Saturday after all.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better Lorenz, besides, once it’s Monday we’ll have to clean all over again..” She crossed an arm over her forehead to add a more dramatic effect to her complaints, she just wanted to go back to her room and indulge in fashion with one of the girls, except practically every girl in the class had other interests that weren’t remotely fashionable much less appealing to her.

“No one really has to work on a Saturday though, and once the ground is steady again you won’t have to work in the mess hall anymore.” Ignatz and Lorenz shared an awkward look at Hilda’s apparent agitation, usually she would huff and puff but never go so far as to openly complain like this.

“Oh pshaw..” She waved her hands in the air now, despite having the free time she didn’t feel like moving from the sofa, she was just too bored at this point to care, the only reason she was here was because she wanted to avoid another of Claude’s lectures concerning her laziness.

* * *

Marianne adjusted the hood of her long-coat as she tightly held her violin case to her chest, she had forgotten it when she left home so she spent some of the early morning hours quietly playing it in her room to make sure she wasn’t too rusty for today, all she wanted to do was have a little fun with the Professor on his birthday even if she were to play an off note here and there she figured it would all be fine, now all she had to do was search the campus for him.

It was nearly half past eleven as she slowly descended the dormitory steps, they hadn’t spoken at all this morning since he wasn’t daring enough to visit the upper levels of the woman’s noble section of the dorms during the daytime.

The click-clack sounds of the heel of her boots filled the hall as her heart raced fiercely in her chest, feeling the familiar warmth of her Crest that told her he was nearby, as soon she turned the corner she nearly toppled right into him thanks in part to his back being turned and her brisk pace.

“Oh! I-I’m so very sorry!” She bowed her head as she moved back a few steps before she recognized his attire and raised her head to match his soft gaze and even softer smile. “Professor! I was hoping I’d find you!” She exclaimed excitedly as she fumbled with her case. “Was there something you’d like to do for today?” Her excitement warmed his heart as she nodded, she tugged on his sleeve to guide him to the garden where he usually hosted tea parties, he hadn’t managed to get her to enjoy a cup with him but he was certain that the opportunity would arise eventually.

She beckoned for him to take a seat as she folded her long-coat into the seat of a chair revealing her long white and blue patterned floral dress with a white button up cardigan, she let her hair down but kept her crown neatly braided before moving to take out her violin, she blushed under his awestruck gaze before beginning a slow but elegant piece she had played many times before in the past.

Seeing Marianne perform for him like this with her bright face, sincere smile and beautiful dress filled his heart with joy, he couldn’t help his wide smile as he looked at her with awe, listening to the fine melody gave him a sense of peace he had never known before as he kept his focus on her at all times instead of letting his mind wander with images that could fit her music. Marianne continued to play all the songs she knew for him for at least an hour before she concluded the performance as she took a small bow, Byleth applauded her as she moved to set the instrument back in it’s case. “That was wonderful Marianne, you’re very talented, where did you learn that?”

“I didn’t want to learn the piano or the flute so I asked to have lessons with the cello and violin, it took me a few years to fully grasp a stringed instrument.” She moved to sit next to him, as soon as he offered his hand to her, for a moment she played with his fingers as he brushed a few kisses behind her ear. “Happy Birthday Byleth, I hope today has been good.” She leaned further into his kisses as they sat there, him running a hand through her soft cerulean hair, fully enjoying each others company.

“It has been truly, by the way Marianne, you look incredibly beautiful, though I feel its selfish of me to want to see you dressed like this instead of in these dark academy clothes.” He rose out of his seat as he guided her into his arms, twirling around with her in the garden as he showered her with more compliments. “I never thought I would see you like this, even though it’s been such a short time.”

“I feel the same way.. I.. I wish I had gone to you sooner Byleth, it was awful of me to run away from you when you were only trying to help.” She placed her ear over his heart as he began to hug her tighter. “I only wanted to stay away from you because, I was afraid I would hurt you.. but in the end I already did that now.. didn’t I?” She asked, looking up to meet his gaze, a forlorn smile on her face.

“No, I know you’ll never hurt me, though I always felt as though you’ve been the one who has been hurt all your life.” She nodded slowly, she still hadn’t told him about her own past, about her parents, her family, her Crest. “I have.. but..” She started to shake ever so slightly, Byleth rubbed her back as he squeezed her hand for a moment before moving his hand to her face.

“You don’t have to talk about it yet if you don’t want too, we have plenty of time and I know the last thing you want is to turn this into a sad conversation today of all days.” He held up her chin with the palm of his hand, his fingers brushing her cheek gently as he looked down into her brown eyes. “Thank you, I just want to make you happy today, you’re twenty-one now, right?”

“Yes, and you already have, more than you could ever know.” He nuzzled her cheek with his own as they laid together amongst the flowers, enveloping her in his cape to keep her warm whilst watching the clouds and talking about whatever came to mind.

* * *

When lunch time came around they went back to her room to allow her to put away her violin and grab her other coat, before going off campus to eat at a restaurant and move discreetly around town to enjoy some of the sights for the rest of the afternoon. By the time they got they got back the reddish-orange hue of the low hanging sun shone brightly through the windows of the monastery and school buildings, they took a seat on a nearby bench to appreciate the sight to one another as they watched the sun dip further into the horizon and leave a blanket of stars in it’s wake.

They then slowly made their way into the dining hall to have their last meal of the day. “Hey, check out Marianne, she’s got her hair down for once!” Hilda hoisted herself up from where she was sitting to get a better look all the while Leonie tried tugging her back down to ground level once it became apparent they were heading their way to the isolated table.

“Calm down, Hilda, go into the kitchens and let Claude know, pronto.” Hilda blew a raspberry at her statement but didn’t delay in fulfilling the request as Marianne and Byleth took their seats across from Leonie as they took to greeting her.

Eventually Claude took his seat next to him and with the others sitting across from him and Marianne as they all shared in their favorite dishes for tonight, adding a portion of their own to the Professor’s no longer empty plate.

They all had their own unique smile for him as they waited for him to finish his meal, Claude took his and Marianne’s empty plates away before making his way to the kitchens again with even Hilda of all people helping out, Marianne took his hand into her own again causing him to awkwardly blush and look in her direction so as to not surprise the others with his rare facial expression, she giggled as soon as she heard Hilda’s usual cheers.

“Hey Professor! This is part two of your birthday gift!” Hilda sung out as she danced her way back to the table, followed by Claude holding clean plates and Jeralt holding a large yellow, black and celeste frosted decorated chocolate cake, once it was set in front of him he noticed that not only did it have Byleth’s name on it along with the words ‘happy birthday from all of us to you’ but it also had everyone’s initials dotted around the edge of the frosted pink flowers and leaves accompanied by the Golden Deer itself, an antler made up the first initials in his name with two lit candles at the center just above the same two letters.

Byleth smiled in surprise at Jeralt as he moved to sit next to him, handing him and Marianne their plates along with the knife to cut the cake. “Happy Birthday kid, I know I wasn’t as early like all the other times but, better late then never right?” Jeralt gave him a pat on the shoulder before he joined in on the small celebration, even though he wasn’t one for parties this one proved to be very special, it was practically a milestone in his book seeing Byleth surrounded by people who loved and cared about him especially considering the genuine smile and laughs that the others were able to bring out from him.

They all took the time to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with even Flayn joining in as she came up behind him, he saw Seteth not standing too far away from the counters as he let out a small chuckle at the festive behavior.

“What are you waiting for Professor? Blow out the candles!” Hilda and Leonie cheered in unison as soon as Claude finished lighting them, Byleth inhaled a bit before blowing out the candles before he carefully cut his own slice as they all cheered him on.

They all took a slice from the cake, leaving no room for seconds as Flayn took the final slice to share with Seteth while everyone else plated Byleth with what he wanted to do for his next birthday and questions concerning how he felt about his age with Leonie asking again if he knew his father’s with Jeralt yet again reminding her that there’s no way he could know that information.

They continued to give him well wishes as they crowded around him outside taking a class field trip of their own back to the dormitory, halfway there however Jeralt nearly gave him the heart attack of the lifetime as he ruffled his hair a bit as he went about asking him a question of his own.

“You’re full of surprises you know, five months into this gig and you’ve crawled out of your shell made tons of friends and now you’ve already got a girlfriend.. I wonder, when’s the latest I can expect grandchildren from you two?” Jeralt thundered in laughter as soon as he saw the looks on their faces as Marianne all but collapsed like a domino into Byleth’s arms who could hardly find it in himself to continue standing as well, Marianne was as red as a tomato and he felt that he probably looked the same as Jeralt continued to laugh.

He could tell that the others loved his comment as they bellowed in their own laughter and helped themselves to heaping their own comments on top of Jeralt’s.

“Alright well, have a nice night kid, and try not to let your girlfriend here die of embarrassment.” He crossed his arms with another chuckle as he watched him escort Marianne towards the second floor dormitory, the rest of them stood next to each other as they waved him off as they passed by with Byleth thanking each in turn.

“Night, Teach!” Claude gave him a small salute with a big smile.

“Goodnight Professor!” Lorenz waved in agreement with a smile of his own.

“Sleep well and eat well!” Raphael added in a big grin across his face.

“Have a restful refrain Professor!” Ignatz rose his voice a bit so he could be heard.

“Goodnight! Make sure Marianne doesn’t die of stage freight!” Hilda cheered in her cheery tone.

“Get more than enough sleep for tomorrow!” Leonie cheered alongside Hilda.

“Goodnight Professor, please make sure Marianne is alright!” Lysithea said with gentle care.

“Please get enough sleep for tomorrow my brother hopes for the same as well and thank you for the cake!” Added Flayn as she walked by with Seteth at her side who simply waved and gave him a rare smile.

* * *

“Thank you, Byleth, for escorting me back to my room.” Marianne still had a rosy tint across her cheeks as she stood on her toes to give him another kiss with Byleth leaning down to meet her. “I know the cake was unexpected but, we wanted to do a little more than just giving you a small birthday gift, especially considering everything we’ve been through.” She confirmed his suspicions before he could even ask the question as he squeezed her hand, listening as she waddled back and forth a little on her feet. “It was actually Hilda’s idea to take it a step further, though I was supposed to keep you distracted for a minute so you could be surprised.”

“So that’s why you held my hand..” He blushed again at the action as he pressed a hand over his mouth. “Well, we all decided that the best present we could give you was to make sure everyone who loves you was there to celebrate.” He patted her on the head again as they kissed again before pulling away to say goodnight to each other as his footsteps echoed throughout the second floor hall.

Byleth leaned against his window as he took in the cloud’s moving across the starry night sky, Sothis floated around him as she made comments on all his friends actions today. “I know it’s an odd feeling for you to get used too as you form new memories with your companions, it’s a funny thing seeing what human’s will do for each other as their bonds grow stronger.”

She waved her hand in front of his face to get his complete attention as she continued. “Also, I’d like to wish you a 'Happy Birthday' as well, I have quite the urge to say it for some reason despite us sharing the same day.” He smiled at that, if he could hug her he would, so he simply chuckled at her kind words no matter how strangely worded they may be at times, he wished her the same in turn even though she probably didn’t mind not having it acknowledged.

“You should retire soon, I managed to stay awake all day watching you have fun with that young girl, I’m sure she’s what you would call a ‘child prodigy’ in hiding.” Sothis disappeared into his mind as he moved to get ready for bed, before he did though he moved to place the bracelet he received from Claude on the chain of his pocket watch as he laid it on his bedside table before he pulled the covers over his head, it was only when he was under the blankets that he could admit that it really had been quite a day..

* * *

It was towards the end of class period on the twenty-forth of the Horsebow Moon that Byleth requested the entire class to form a neat circle around his desk as he explained the mission he pointed to the ‘x’ indicated on the map that Jeralt had handed him.

“Today’s mission is going to be different compared to what you’re all normally used too. It’s going to take a considerable distance to get there, if everything goes well we’ll be back on Sunday at most.” Amongst the hushed chatter Ignatz was the first to ask the hardest question as he raised his hand to speak.

“That’s not too far away from central Edmund territory, but why not dispatch forces from the Margrave himself or the capital to do away with them?” He inquired quietly, Seteth explained that it was because of a delicate situation with the Alliance's roundtable having more pressing matters to deal with though he didn’t elaborate further, all eyes were immediately on Claude as he answered the question for him.

“Remember, the military is a bit stretched at the moment holding down the fort around the capital and along the southeastern border, in fact throwing in military action instead of using us would just incite more people to flock to their cause.” Claude scratched his chin as he explained the rather complex situation in the capital at the moment, along with the sentiments of the common folk, a military presence would only stoke more unrest and they would have to bite their tongues at the Church sending out a small force to put the rebellion down quietly. “My father simply doesn’t have the manpower to take out this group of men if they’re as bad as the reports say.. most of his forces are currently on standby in the capital at the moment.” Marianne mumbled in a despondent manner.

“Seteth assigned us with this mission four weeks ago, nearly two weeks ago however I was given new information on their movements, they apparently mean to harass a trade hub, a harbor that had only started to flourish recently.” He traced their original movements on the map and where the Knights of Seiros would be scanning their original hiding spot.

“We’ll be leaving in one hour, pack your things accordingly and reassemble in the marketplace.” Before he dismissed them he handed each a black hooded long-cloak, they would need them for the mission as he went about checking his own luggage at his feet as soon as the double doors closed behind him, Byleth adjusted the hood and buttons of his cloak as he made his way down the steps leading to the marketplace he was greeted by Claude and Lysithea who were also cloaked as they waited for the others to arrive.

* * *

“Hey Teach, are we gonna walk there or.. ow! Are you trying to ruin my good arm?” Claude rubbed his forearm as he took a few steps away from Lysithea who had delivered a brutal punch out of clear annoyance for Claude’s bad humor. “We’re going by horseback Claude, otherwise it would take months to get there.” They wouldn’t use the stable horses but instead would be supplied some by Alois once they were outside the gates, as they waited for the others to arrive they inspected their weapons to make sure they were up to standard for the mission. Claude sheathed a sword at his side while double-checking the strength of his bow, as Byleth listened to him talk about the region they would be heading into.

The rest of the class eventually arrived, after doing an inventory check they headed past the gates to meet Alois to receive their horses, before they steadily made their way to the north stopping at village after village along the way the weather getting colder as they moved further into Leicester territory, once entered the gates of a city that wasn’t too far from their intended destination on the map as they moved to bring the horses to the stables.

Marianne stood by his side as the others split off in different directions to stock up on supplies. He could tell she was worried about the mission itself, if they couldn’t put a stop to this movement they would eventually move to take over all of Edmund territory. “Don’t worry Marianne, I’ll make sure no harm comes to your father.” She slowly nodded as she followed him around the market, squeezing his hand for comfort, she immediately let go as soon as Claude came running towards them. “Hey, don’t stop on my account honestly! I just got word that there’s a city not too far from this harbor town, apparently there’s word going around that everyone was forced out, it’s just east of here, let’s hustle.”

“Alright, let’s regroup and make our way there then.” They managed to regroup in a timely manner by the stables, aside from Claude they weren’t able to gather anymore information about the situation, this evacuation likely took place on their way here so word wasn’t able to travel very far yet, whatever the case it would take half a days ride to get there, it snowed lightly as they made their way to a lightly wooded area not too far from a small town.

“They might have spies in the town, so let’s split into groups of three to learn more information, report back here in one hour.” Byleth marked the tree with one of Claude’s arrows before they made their way into town Marianne and Lorenz followed him into the northernmost part of town near the town square while Claude took Ignatz and Raphael to the marketplace to the east and Lysithea led Hilda and Leonie to the southern housing district.

“They overthrew us as soon as the Mayor practically had his back turned, they forced the rest of us out which is why we ended up here.” A young fisherman shrugged as he shared what he knew with Lysithea, he only moved there six months ago but he noted that they had a large supply of swords and a few archers at their disposal near the fishing pier.

“It was the Mayor’s nephew who started all of this though!” The woman standing near the tool shop shouted as she walked towards Claude as soon as she overheard what they were asking a family of farmers.

“Nephew?” He exclaimed in wonder as the woman explained that he had talked for months about the Empire conspiring to overthrow the Alliance in order to have even more manpower to destroy the Kingdom of Faerghus.

“Richard Elbe..” One man spat out as he moved to brush past the rest of the townspeople towards the tavern situated closely to the houses and apartments.

“Was there no city guard to protect the settlement?” Lorenz inquired, the displaced townspeople all shook their heads in dejection.

“The city itself was only founded two years prior, with it’s obscurity.. it’s likely that they didn’t have enough resources yet to employ a suitable guard.” Marianne explained in a disappointed tone, if her father had been more wealthy this whole situation could’ve been avoided, though she was relieved that no hostages and lives were taken.

“That’s right little lady, we hoped we could have it up and running within the next five years, Margrave Edmund had his hands tied with other matters unfortunately.” Byleth sighed as they all thanked the townspeople for their time and regrouped to their meeting point by the tree, they were able to piece together the bigger picture with information shared by Claude and Lysithea, Byleth decided to have them try and make camp somewhere near the town itself before he could try and formulate their next move as they all searched the nearby countryside to see what they could make do with.


End file.
